Band 8.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 8.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-30

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

During a recent plane journey, you sat next to a businessman who owns a chain of restaurants. You talked to him and he suggested that you should contact him about a possible job in one of his restaurants.

Write a letter to this businessman. In your letter

• remind him when and where you met
• tell him what kind of job you are interested in
• say why you think you would be suitable for the job

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear ................. ,

Student answer (Band 8.0)

Dear Mr. Brown,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing to follow up on our conversation during my recent flight from Toronto to Vancouver, when I had the pleasure of sitting next to you. We spoke about your restaurant business, and you kindly suggested that I contact you if I was interested in working for one of your restaurants.

I am particularly interested in a position as a restaurant supervisor or customer service assistant. I would prefer a full-time position where I can interact with customers, support the restaurant team, and develop my communication and management skills. I am also flexible regarding the specific role if you have another suitable opening.

I believe I would be a suitable candidate because I am hardworking, responsible, and comfortable communicating with people from different backgrounds. I can work well as part of a team and remain calm in busy situations. In addition, I am willing to learn new skills and can work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends.

I would be very grateful if you could let me know whether there are any suitable vacancies in one of your restaurants. I would be happy to send you my résumé or attend an interview at your convenience.

Thank you for your time and for offering to help me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Lovepreet Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 8.5

The response covers all parts of the task fully and effectively. You successfully reminded the businessman about where and when you met by stating, 'our conversation during my recent flight from Toronto to Vancouver'. You clearly outlined the positions you are interested in, such as 'a restaurant supervisor or customer service assistant', and provided strong reasons why you would be suitable, highlighting your traits like being 'hardworking, responsible, and comfortable communicating with people from different backgrounds'. The tone is consistently polite, professional, and entirely appropriate for a formal business correspondence. To reach the highest level, you could have elaborated slightly more on specific past experiences related to restaurant or customer service work to extend your supporting details even further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 8.5

Your letter demonstrates a very clear logical organisation and natural progression throughout. The ideas are grouped effectively into coherent paragraphs, each serving a distinct purpose: the first establishes context, the second outlines your job preferences, the third highlights your suitability, and the final paragraphs handle the call to action and polite sign-off. Cohesive devices such as 'In addition', 'Therefore', or referencing pronouns are managed well and unobtrusively, making the letter extremely easy to follow. To move to an even higher band, you could incorporate more sophisticated, subtle cohesive ties between sentences to enhance the flow even further.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.5

You have used a sufficient and generally natural range of vocabulary suitable for a professional request. Phrases like 'follow up on our conversation', 'particular interest', and 'at your convenience' show good control over standard business phrasing. There are also nice attempts at descriptive traits such as 'hardworking', 'responsible', and 'flexible hours'. However, the vocabulary remains somewhat standard and safe. To achieve a higher band, you could integrate less common lexical items and more precise collocations related to the hospitality industry, such as 'fast-paced environment', 'interpersonal competencies', or 'career trajectory'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 8.0

The writing demonstrates a strong command of grammatical structures with a high proportion of error-free sentences. You have successfully utilized a variety of complex sentence forms, such as conditional and relative clauses, as seen in 'whether there are any suitable vacancies in one of your restaurants' and 'where I can interact with customers'. Punctuation, verb tenses, and article usage are managed with a high degree of accuracy. The occasional minor slip prevents it from being completely flawless, but overall control is impressive. To reach the top band, ensure absolute perfection across all complex sentence patterns with zero minor lapses in preposition choices.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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